Memories
by PeregrineX
Summary: After both a Riolu and a Charmander arrive in the land of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, without any memories of their pasts, the force of evil begins to make its move. Legends say the great god of the sky will be resurrected by the evils within, and complete annihilation of the world will ensue. Can they stop the evil from destroying the world, while trying to regain their memories?
1. Chapter 1

"What a long day..." Nikola breathed out as he dropped down on his hay bed in the corner of his house. A busy week, filled with rescues, assignments, and other guild-related events that had popped up in between, was just drawing to a close and he was ready to go to bed and worry about nothing but sleep. But he had a lot of things on his mind; ever since he had seemingly landed in the world of Pokémon that one extremely ominous day, he had been perpetually haunted by the blur of his past, and what mysteries it could contain. However, no matter how hard he tried, the picture remained hidden, out of focus. It was like a white void covered it all and wouldn't go away.

Nikola lied there, breathing tiredly through his thoughts, before getting back up to gaze at the setting sun. It was an amazingly beautiful sight. Out his one window, he could perfectly see the horizon and that big fireball in the sky, now a giant luminous semicircle. He sighed. With each passing sunset, the sinking feeling that he would never get his memories back grew stronger and stronger. The sun was now almost completely submerged in the horizon. Nikola yawned, finally heading to bed for the day.

As he settled in, a scream shattered the divine silence. Nikola sprung up, and rushed out of the house. Other Pokémon had run outside their houses to see what the problem was. Everyone looked all around to find where the scream came from. Before long, Eve the Butterfree flew as fast as she could from the hills outside town, panting with tears in her eyes the whole way down.

"There- there's someone over there... he's alive, bu- but, I don't know how much longer he has..." she choked through the tears and exertion.

Much commotion rose among the other Pokémon. "Again?" some asked rhetorically. The reason being that Nikola himself, just a few weeks ago, had been in the same predicament, unconscious and alone in the hills. He was brought over to town and cared for until he woke up, and went on to be a leader, joining the local guild and helping with rescues and various other assignments. He had grown to be quite well respected and liked in the community.

Nikola immediately got down to business. "Okay, Eve, where is he? Just lead the way."

Nikola and some of the others from town trailed after Eve to where the unconscious Pokémon was located. As the thick ferns and flora scratched at his legs, Nikola felt a strange sense of déjà vu wash through his senses. He shrugged it off, however. It had to be because this happened to him before.

"There he is," Eve stammered as they got to the scene. She flew over to the body lying in the tall grass. It was a Charmander, curled weakly in on itself, almost shielded from view by the tall grass.

Nikola's eyes grew wide as they scanned the weak body, but Eve was the first to gasp out, horrified, "His tail fire! It's almost gone!"

 _What could have happened?_ Nikola wondered, his gaze barely leaving the dying spark on the Charmander's tail. "We need to get him back to town. Tyree, can you carry him?" Nikola asked.

"Sure thing; if I did it for you, I can do it for him," Tyree replied.

"And I greatly thank you for that. I probably wouldn't be alive if there wasn't someone as strong as you around."

Tyree put the anonymous Charmander on his back with the help of Nikola and the others, and began trekking all the way back to town. Being an Ivysaur, this was no difficult task for him.

By the time they all got back to town, it was almost pitch black outside. Nikola volunteered his home, at least until the mysterious Charmander awoke, so he could care for the injured Pokemon. Tyree carried him over to Nikola's bed, and layed him down gently on it, carefully maneuvering the creature's tail so there was no chance it might go out in the night. Nikola opted to sleep on the floor, while the Charmander was on his bed.

When everyone settled back into their homes, the madness over with for the moment, Nikola curled on the floor with some blankets, and tried to finally go to sleep. He couldn't help but notice the similarities between the Charmander's condition and his appearance in the Pokémon world. He, too, had been weak beyond belief when he arrived. Thoughts silly with fatigue, Nikola couldn't help but wonder, could he and the Charmander be connected somehow? Could there be some kind of greater purpose in motion? Those thoughts slowly passed through his mind as he drifted off to sleep.

. . .

A blackness filled his vision. Though Nikola could clearly hear voices, they were dampened, and he couldn't make out what was said. Gradually, the sounds became marginally easier to register, but somehow, he still couldn't understand anything. It was as if everyone was speaking a different language. Then, the voices got louder. Small chatter roared into screams.

Suddenly, Nikola felt a shattering, acute pain spear his forehead, followed by even more shouting. He only understood one word after that, called with great fear:

"Nikola!


	2. Chapter 2

Nikola awoke to a loud, staccato scream, his head jolting upwards and off the floor where he had slept. He glanced at the Charmander in his bed, and realized that the scream had come from him. The Charmander was sitting up now, with loud, heavy breaths escaping and entering his mouth. He spun his head around toward Nikola, who had gotten close to him, trying to soothe him in any possible way. Shocked to see someone sitting right next to him, he jumped back away from Nikola, his breaths now heavier than ever.

"It's okay, it's okay. I mean no harm," Nikola calmly asserted.

The Charmander's breathing gradually got lighter, and, after a couple seconds, he sighed, as if to signal Nikola that he was now calm.

"Alright, what's your name? You can tell me," Nikola asked the Charmander

The Charmander thought for a moment before answering. "Thaddeus... I think."

Nikola's eyes grew wide as he realized what may be going on. "Tell me, do you have any memories of your past? Any at all?"

Thaddeus thought even longer this time, and to Nikola, the answer was clear. "No, no I don't. I don't remember anything!"

Thaddeus, visibly panicking, started to breathe heavily again. Nikola tried to settle him down, but he was unsuccessful. Instead, Thaddeus got up and ran outside past Nikola.

"Wait," Nikola exclaimed. He got up and rushed outside to look for Thaddeus, but by then, he had already vanished into the moonlit woods. Nikola let out a deep sigh, then started out to find Thaddeus. He couldn't have gone far.

After a while of searching, Nikola eventually gave up, and decided it would be best to search for him in the morning, when there was more light. However, as he started back toward the town, a faint rustling noise came from behind a tree in the clearing near him. Nikola, relieved that he had found Thaddeus, gave out a tired sigh.

"Don't be so scared, Thaddeus, we can work through this." Nikola let out a smile and started to carefully walk toward the tree that the sound seemingly came from. As he got closer, though, an outline appeared from behind the tree. Nikola stopped in his tracks. It wasn't Thaddeus. It was someone (or something) completely different.

Before Nikola could get a good look at the shadowy shape, it jumped out toward him, fist emitting a faint glow.

Nikola leaped to the side, just barely escaping the blow. He looked up at the figure, and saw it was an Infernape, running at full speed toward him with another mach punch ready. Nikola hastily got on his feet and and blocked the punch with his forearm, continuing for the next round of lightning speed blows. He had learned how to fight from his friends in the guild with him, and, with intense practice and sparring every day, had gotten to be one of the top fighters with them.

The Infernape hopped backward, and let out a slight chuckle. "Heh, hardly anyone's been able to block my mach punches like that. Guess that's why this Riolu's a legend."

Nikola took a step back. "Cut the nonsense. You obviously attacked me with a more believable purpose than that. Even if your reason was purely amusement, I hardly believe I'm a 'legend.'"

The Infernape got up from his stance and raised an eyebrow. "Eh? You- you don't know?"

Before he could ask what he meant by that, a chuckle escaped the Infernape's lips. That chuckle turned into laughter, and that laughter escalated into sheer hysteria.

He suddenly ceased, and a sinister smile formed on his face. "All the more reason to capture you now."

The Infernape jumped forward to attack again, this time flames encircling his fist. Nikola lunged to the side and, without hesitation, forced his palm toward the Infernape's jaw, hitting him with all the force he could muster.

The Infernape stammered back, holding the side of his jaw where Nikola had made his blow. He spit a tiny bit of blood out of his mouth. "You little shit," he grunted. As he got ready to deliver the next punch, Nikola got on the offensive, and sprinted toward the Infernape. That was his mistake. The Infernape saw it coming. He strode to the side, dodging Nikola's punch, and mach punched the other right where Nikola had hit him. Nikola staggered back, collapsed, and rolled on the ground, blood splattering across the grass. He caught himself, and quickly got up and into his stance to get ready for another blow.

Instead, the Infernape smiled. "How's that for a little payback, huh?"

Suddenly, voices coming from behind Nikola crept into the clearing, and flickering torchlight filtering through the trees grew stronger. The Infernape stopped dead, a startled expression across his face. He then sprinted away from the premises, leaving Nikola dizzy, tired, and confused in the midst of the dark forest.

Nikola slowly brought his head up to see what the commotion was. His jaw was on fire, and the terrible thought that it might be broken crossed his mind. Soon enough, through his slightly blurred vision, he saw a number of Pokemon come through into the clearing. They quickly found Nikola sitting there, scratches and bruises galore. They yelled out to him, but he couldn't hear them. To him, it was all just a jumbled mess of voices strung together. Eventually, seeing they would have no luck tonight, they carried the dazed Nikola back to town.

. . .

The room was almost pitch-black. The air was humid as a stormy night, with water droplets occasionally falling from the ceiling's stalactites. The door swung open, hitting the wall with a loud "bang" that resonated throughout the entire room. The Infernape bent over slightly, his breaths becoming long and choppy.

"Based on your wounds and the expression on your face, you were not able to capture him successfully, Adolphus?" a voice from the other end of the room asked.

Adolphus, startled, ceased his breathing for a split second. He knelt, fear showing through all parts of his body.

"Sorry boss, I- I failed..."

"You most certainly have. I was hoping to have him captured long before it, but this… changes our predicament."

Adolphus gazed downward, anger spread across his face. This was supposed to be an easy task, but he…

"Although, I am surprised. The boy was able to hold off one of our top captains. He has definitely grown strong."

"Shouldn't we go all out and capture him before he gets any stronger?" Adolphus questioned.

The Zoroark then stepped out of the shadows.

"No, now we wait. It won't be long until the day, and he, come to us."


End file.
